Our Mission in Ethiopia


Monday, March 3, 2014

Here are more photos Julie and I took at Aregash Lodge on Wednesday night and Thursday morning in Yirgelem....

The reception area

The tukul we stayed in

Our living room

Our bedroom

The coffee ceremony 
(We just ate the popcorn...)

Vultures right by us as we waited for the
feeding of the hyenas
(I have to get a photo from Elder Tanner with his 
zoom lens and good night photos since it was dark,)


It was a GORGEOUS morning and everything was
SO green and pretty!

We loved the avocado trees.  We have one in our front
yard but it takes 7 years before they bear fruit.

This cactus "tree" was SO TALL!!

This woman showed us how she gets the
pulp from the false banana tree.



Her cute little girl helped her by bringing a 
pitcher so she could wash her feet before
walking over the pulp.


She held the leave with her foot while she
scraped the pulp off with a very sharp knife!

Here she is after she finished....sitting in the 
pulp from the false banana tree, which they leave 
to ferment.  They make a staple called "bula".  
We tried it at dinner, the night before, but weren't 
too crazy about it...

The woman's home



It was a FUN morning walk and a very
interesting experience!

The guide gave us walking sticks.



Elder Tanner, Jeremy and our guide













Saturday, March 1, 2014

More fun with Julie and Jeremy in Awassa at the Lewi Hotel on Wednesday and on the way to Yirgelem to stay at Aregash Lodge....







Our bed at the Lewi with our mosquito net


Birds on Lake Awassa

Just relaxing after breakfast....



We LOVED seeing the monkeys all over, even though they are naughty and steal food!                                One took a pancake from the guy's plate right next to our table!






Surprise! A baboon was in the tree right by us!


Julie got these great shots with her camera!



Storks were all around the lake too.

Young guys were fishing from very small  homemade rafts.


We took an hour long boat ride to see the hippos
and Bird Island.



We saw lots of hippos


                                             It was a FUN boat ride but we all got sunburned!


                                                                        Bird Island


Fish Eagles







                              On the lake by the fish market, guys were filleting fish and the
                         storks were all around them, waiting to get whatever they threw aside!




                                  We walked along the lake on a shady path, near the fish market.


                                                This little guy had the biggest smile as he
                                                          sold popcorn and potato chips.




This is Genet with her daughters, Selam (12) and
Birhane (13) holding her niece. They live behind
Elder and Sister Tanner in Awassa.


On the road to Yirgelem...


Elder and Sister Tanner stopped at this home last week and he
took photos of all the family.  We stopped so he could give them
their photos and we went inside their home. It was VERY humble
and they share it with a cow and sheep!


They LOVED having their picture taken and seeing it afterwards.








We had quite a crowd when we came out of the house!!
Elder Tanner entertained them with his magic tricks and 
speaking to them in Amharic. (Even though most spoke
the Oromo or Sidama languages.)






We stopped along the road where they were making and selling
baskets, etc.  The kids all wanted their picture taken.